Advanced Fetal Care Center | Research & Innovation

Boston Children's Hospital and the Advanced Fetal Care Center (AFCC) are committed to leading-edge clinical research and innovative medicine and surgery. We want to make a difference in your prenatal care, the care of your baby-to-be and the care of generations to come. The goal is to continue to find ways to detect and treat fetal disorders through medical and surgical innovation.

Ongoing research

Clinicians and researchers in the AFCC are currently overseeing or contributing to a variety of clinical research projects.

MRI Assessment of Placental HealthThe ultimate goal of this project is to develop methods that allow informed decision-making on the delivery time of fetuses that are at increased risk of stillbirth due to intrauterine growth restriction.Contact: 857-218-5111 or email ellen.grant@childrens.harvard.edu

Cardiac Surgery

Placental Biopsies in Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) Patients
This study is researching the possibility of using stem cells obtained from placental tissue as a fetal intervention for patients with HLHS.Contact: 617-919-4457 or email Breanna.Piekarski@cardio.chboston.org

Preserved Umbilical Vein Use as Autologous Shunt Conduits in Neonatal Cardiac SurgeryThis is a prospective, single center, safety and feasibility trial to evaluate the use of autologous umbilical vein as shunts or conduits in neonatal cardiac surgery.Contact: 617-919-4457 or email Breanna.Piekarski@cardio.chboston.org

Neurology & Cardiology

Fetal Heart & Brain Project
The purpose of the study is to better understand brain development in fetuses with congenital heart disease, and how it affects their long-term development.
Contact: 617-355-8525 or email Reem.Chamseddine@childrens.harvard.edu

Cardiology

National Pediatric Cardiology Quality Improvement Collaborative (NPC-QIC) A Collaborative Initiative to Improve Care of Children with Complex Congenital Heart Disease - Phase II
The purpose of this initiative is to improve care and outcomes for infants with HLHS by expanding the NPC-QIC national registry.
Contact: 617-355-8427 or email terry.saia@cardio.chboston.org

Radiology

Motion-Robust Super-Resolution Diffusion Weighted MRI of Early Brain Development
The overall objective of this research is to dramatically improve technology and knowledge for in-vivo analysis of normal and abnormal white matter structure and neural connectivity before and early after birth when the brain undergoes its most rapid formative growth.

Urology

Fetal Renal Extracorporeal Evaluation (FREE)
This study is testing a painless, entirely non- invasive way to evaluate kidney function of a fetus using an MRI machine.
Contact: 617-919-2023 or email michael.kurtz@ childrens.harvard.edu

The Neural Tube Defect Biomarker Study
This study is looking for markers or labels in expectant mothers' urine and blood that are associated with a diagnosed spinal cord condition.
Contact: 857-218-4009 or email Lily.cabour@childrens.harvard.edu

Boston Children's Hospital has been named the #1 children's hospital in the nation by U.S. News and World Report for the fifth year in a row! It's an honor that we could not have achieved without you. On behalf of every member of our Boston Children's team, thank you for inspiring us to be bolder, dream bigger, and make the impossible possible for our patients and families.